Along with Nadine Ruggles of Inchie Quilts fame, the Quilting Gallery is very pleased to host the first-ever Inchie Ornaments Swap.

Come join the fun, learn a new technique, be creative and make new friends in the process.

• Guidelines
• Registration
• Participants
• Inchie Ornaments Tutorial
• Flickr group
• DreamWeaver’s Quilts Studio – get your Inchie Supplies!

Registration closes October 15, 2009. However, I will be releasing partner information within two weeks of registration so that those that sign up early can get started right away. The deadline to mail your ornaments is December 1, 2009.

Registration for the Fall-themed Swap will start at the end of September and will not be due until next January.

It was my mom’s birthday earlier this week. I sent her this beaded Friendship Bag:

I also made her a tote bag from a Moda Bake Shop Tutorial:

Close up of the stitching:

Free-motion stitching on the back:

Serena Smith from Embroidery Treasures has put together two fabulous videos on how to cover a pizza box with fabric. She makes it look so easy. The addition of a little piece of ribbon to make the boxes easier to open is brilliant.

I’m going to head over to the local pizza place and see if I can’t convince them to part with a few boxes. These will really help in the cleaning up of the mess in my sewing area.

I have several projects on the go that will benefit from being kept flat instead of in a bag where they end up all wrinkled. :( I’m also going to use one (or two) for strips cut from leftover projects.

Serena has several other great videos she’s posted on YouTube. I especially like her roman shade idea for protecting your fabric stored on book shelves.

Slowly, over the last few weeks (months?) my sewing area has reached the disaster you see here:

Piled in the mess are 5 Friendship Bags, 6 baby quilts waiting on labels and binding to be finished, and two lap quilts waiting to be quilted.

The table you see in the front does not belong inside. It’s for temporary use only. I brought it out last February when I was working on the Market quilts and never put it away. It just accumulates things, so away it goes this weekend.

It’s rather overwhelming, but I finally emptied the laundry basket of fabric that needed to be ironed. My plan is to remove everything from the temporary table, put it in the laundry basket for now or put it away if there’s a spot for it.

Then I’ll have a place to organize the fabric by colourways or by sets. I have a few empty shelves for it already.

I’m hoping to have this all done in the evenings this week, so I can get working on my Summertime swap this weekend.

Anyone else use the Labour Day weekend to organize, regroup and prepare for Fall? I do more this time of year than New Year’s in terms of making plans and reorganizing life.

Partner information was sent out last week for the Friendship Bag Swap, and already several are flying away to their new homes. See more cuties in the Flickr Group.

Coming soon:

A Christmas Swap…

It’s very cute!
It’s super easy!
It’s so much fun!

Registration starts early September.